Heart-Mind Fasting Meditation

If there is no other, there is no I. If there is no I, there is no one to perceive. This is close to the truth, but we do not know why. There must be some primal force, but we cannot discover any proof. I believe in acts, but I cannot see it. I can feel it, but it has no form.

First, there must be a true human; then there can be true knowledge. But what is a true human? The true human of old did not mind being poor. He took no pride in his achievements. He made no plans. Thus, he could commit an error and did not regret it. He could succeed without being proud. Thus, he could climb mountains without fear, enter water without getting wet, and pass through fire unscathed. This is the knowledge that leads to Tao.

The true human of old slept without dreaming and woke without anxiety. His food was plain, and his breath was deep. For the breath of the true human rose up from his heels while the breath of common men rise from their throats. (from Chuang Tzu, Inner Chapters)

People tend to have many ideas and anxiety of various sorts, constantly moving here and there, seemingly without any end, even when they are in sleep. So truly, to be quiet internally within for a time may be quite difficult for most common people. Yet to truly gain internal quietude and inner peace is a treasure sought after by many far and wide.

We find there are many methods teaching how to fall into inner quietude and people can find them in the books handed down by the ancient true humans of China. In the book of Chang Tzu, people can find one meditation method which is called Heart-Mind Fasting, which is an excellent way to meditate and gain entrance into inner quietude.

During this practice, people may choose to sit cross legged on a cushion, or sit high up on some soft blanket or sit in chair with legs touching the ground and the back straight, tongue touching the roof of the hard palate, teeth lightly touching, breathing in and out naturally through the nose.

Prerequisites for success of this practice:

1. Persist in the practice every day, 30 to 60 minutes each time, one to three times every day. Continue the practice daily without any intermission.

2. Practice natural celibacy or have healthy sex every 10 or 15 days. Do not contact or have interest in sexual materials like books, TV show, or the like.

3. Eat mostly vegetable food of moderate flavor, no ice drinks, no spice or strong flavor. Lead a peaceful, natural and quiet life.

4. Do not take much Western medicine, drugs, alcohol, chemical additives, or unnatural things.

5. Do not have strong emotional changes or reactions.

First, please concentrate your inner attention into the Lower Dantian and gradually rid yourself of stray ideas. Fall into a deep quiet state naturally. Please remember to be free of all stray thoughts from within; this is a very important starting point. Let the back be straight, tongue touching the roof of the hard palate, teeth lightly touching, breathing in and out naturally through the nose. Let the in-breath be drawn deep into the Dantian and let the out-breath flow out from the Dantian -- all quite naturally without strong effort or concern. The Lower Dantian (Tan Tien) is located in the empty space below the navel in the middle place between the kidney and navel -- a sphere of around 3.8 cm. Let the internal vision gaze upon that place. Let golden virtue begin to grow within, releasing all negative qualities and deeply relaxing the body.

Second, slowly and quietly use the inner power of the "ears" to "listen" to the breathing sounds via the nose or lung or respiratory track -- follow and find the true breath. In the beginning people may have some consciousness of the whereabouts of the nose, lung, respiratory track or the in-and-out pattern of the breath. But later let this consciousness come and go in its own way and never interfere, never pay it any mind, slowly falling into a state which is gradually free of any artificial consciousness. Hence, it is a gradual process to fall into a such a natural state that is little by little free of any trace of human consciousness. Let the listening force and the breathing power combine together slowly, naturally and quietly. Perhaps the breathing may be slow, may be quick, may become louder, and may change to a feeble nature. Never pay attention to "its" variance. You will gradually find that the listening force combines with breathing to form one harmonious unity. Continue to meditate in this state.

Third, at the beginning phase, people may still retain the ability to discern which is listening and which is breathing. But later on with practice, the practitioner may fall into a deep state without any consciousness, not knowing which or what is the corporeal body and which is the outside environment, the listening ability seems to come to a stop. It truly seems like the heart-mind contained in the breathing is listening to the breathing contained in the heart-mind and the barrier which formally existed between the heart-mind and breathing seems to disappear and they meld completely, merging to form one harmonious unity.

Fourth, such a state comes to a complete standstill state, which is free of any consciousness whatsoever and the heart-mind and breathing forms a harmonious union, becoming one without any division of form. During this experience, people may seem to "feel" that all comes to a complete and constant standstill, nothing in motion, nothing coming, nothing going, for one does not know how long, time and space disappear, resting in complete emptiness.

Continue the practice…………

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Thanks for the lesson, this is similar to my practice and sometimes im so still and quiet i hear and feel my heart pumping load inside. Like i can see it moving and pumping, blood moving!!

Please add more information i enjoy your post!

WYG

Such is the state of embryonic breathing...
Very nice description

I would like to know about Embrionic breathing, what is the proceedure for learning it?

Or do you mean what was just wtritten by Dao Zhen is Embrionic Breathing?

sorry im pretty tired today!!

WYG

sup jesse!
my buddy was telling me about how someone who knew what they were talking about was posting here and that they lived in wudang, i decided to check it out. good to see youre doing well!

and once again thanks, that knowledge is priceless to me.

That is wonderful that you have a daily practice.

It is great you are finding yourself become still and quiet.

During the course of proper practice, at a later stage we loose all sense of corporeality, time and space.

We will also loose all sense of our "ego" consciousness.

If you have the sense that there is an "I" that is still during practice, or that the "I" can observe the "heart and blood" then there is still much further for you to go.

Keep practice with a pure heart, and strive to yeild and let go of all sense of your corporeality.

It sounds like you are making very good progress.

Naturally fall into the empty state, free of any sense of time, space and the like.........

Sincerely, dao zhen






Hey my brother!

I went on an amazing journey for almost 3 months after you left Wudang.

I went all over China to many sacred sites - Wutaishan, Huashan, Louguantai, Baopu Shan, Lunghu Shan, Huangshan..........

I did a retreat and training on Huashan that was really wonderful; and plan to go back there in April to train in the caves there.

I met a taoist wizard on Wutaishan, and he taught about sleep and dream practice.

Please email me, and I would like to ask you to consider working on an essay about your training here with teacher.

We just want to share experiences with others so we may all learn and grow in the direction of Dao, so no need to use any names, not for any type of promotion or the like.

Sending all my love, dao zhen

ps. I have an extra bedroom in the house here in Wudang, hope you can visit. I am here untill mid april, then i leave for huashan to do another retreat - then we have the trainings in qingcheng shan, etc. Most students have left the Academy, so it is just a few people there now. Too cold for most!

The Wayfarer Will to Learn Emptiness once spoke……

When the Qi of Great Unification has taken residence in the internal orifice of Lower Dantian, you should relapse into silence with the Mind-Will settling in the Lower Dantian without any intermission. The two eyes should gaze gently and silently upon it, not with any sense of purpose, and the two ears listen to the sounds remotely coming from it.....

Proceeding in this way you will gradually lose the consciousness of all things, including your existence, and recede into broad tracts of emptiness in which the profoundest stillness pervades all throughout this realm. The Mind-Will, at the same time, should constantly remain independent solitarily.

Then the inhaling and exhaling will become feebler and feebler, thinner and thinner till all seems to come to an end and no breath comes in and no breath goes out.

This state of a standstill continuing on and on, you will become conscious of Automatic Breathing starting up, with a movement sphere up not beyond the middle Dantian and down not beyond the Lower Dantian.

This Automatic Breathing, after a certain length of time, will come to an end when the breath inside will never go out and the breath outside never comes in, which means you have recovered the breathing state from the time of the embryonic condition, and all the great mysteries have come back to their common root.

At the time when the Embryonic Breathing proceeds to come to its most ethereal phase, you will perceive that no things accumulate when something comes in and no things drift away when something goes out. And you, like falling into a trance, drift away and drift away into a region of the most profound stillness in which there is no existence of any sort and only Mind-Will remains independent and constantly maintains what it is without anything to disturb it………….

Hi Dao Zhen,

Just a quick reply on a question about wutai shan, my system comes from there a very old taoist system called Hun Yuan Yi Qi Zhuang -primoridal chaos One chi palm. Do you know of any Primordial sects in wutai shan or china of Taoism? Im looking for information as the gate keeper lives here in Australia and i am looking for anything or connections?

Ill get back to you on some more questions after reading your replies!

WYG

Thank you for your letter.

I do not know anything about your system.

I am very sorry.

I will be on the lookout though.

Maybe a journey to Wutaishan is in order for you.

It is a very sacred and beautiful place.

With all my best.

Sincerely, dao zhen

Hey Dao Zhen,

Thanks for the reply, i will most certainly save for a trip to Mount Wutai although i was told that the art is no longer in china my grandmaster does live in hongkong but my sifu is now the gate keeper of Hun Yuan Gong.

I read that you should practice the heart sutra is that a buddhist or taoist sutra and where can i learn it?

regards
WYG

http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=559...h&plindex=5


http://homepage.mac.com/doubtboy/HeartSutra.html

Hi,
what exactly do you mean by no spice? Does that mean specifically no spices at all?
Thank you

very profound practice, i tried it last night, listening to the inhale/exhale with the ears and the mind; i don't think i have ever dived into meditation that deep before, i'll definitely continue the practice.

I love this practice, very profound. Just read about it elsewhere recently, and here you have in the way of the Tao posted a means of entering. Many Thanks!!!!
Xk

There is the heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra spoken by Guan Shi Yin(Avalokiteshvara) Bodhisattva, and there is
one similar written by Patriarch Lu Dong Bin. That one is in Chinese, and hasn't been translated. I doubt it would ever be translated. So, you can't get the one by Patriarch Lu, unless you can read Chinese well enough.

I can tell you it speaks the same principles as in the Heart Sutra, above mentioned Sutra.

Peace,
Lin